I found an interesting article in today's online Guardian. Apart from some puzzling statements that stood out in stark contrast to the measured and persuasive tone of Tony Fraser's article, Coup plot: Trying to convince the sceptics. the article really detained me and made me think...again...and I thank him for it. It raises questions for all of us as we try to pick sense out of the knee-high nonsense.

I found this interesting:

"No one genuinely discerning of the state of politics in T&T and the world should be surprised at the measure of disbelief, cynicism, blind support and equally blind opposition to the very serious allegation that a group of people has been planning to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three of her Cabinet ministers."

True. And maybe those who may have felt constrained to be passively cynical in the past are now actively so because of the punishing blows to a renewed hope which they allowed themselves to feel not too long ago.

"But notwithstanding the Prime Minister and the security forces going this far to convince the sceptics, the disbelief continues."

True. But trust, for some of us, is built up over time and if it has been broken over and over with the handling of smaller issues, is it so difficult to understand why it cannot be resurrected on demand, whole and healthy and raring to go, just because this most recent issue is of greater import? Are our spidey senses expected to be so sophisticated that we can detect degrees of honesty and adjust our credulity to suit?

For those who still believe that the Bible gets it right every time about human nature:

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.---Luke, 16:10"

People have been schooled into cynicism by this leaching of trust and this latest event should be a wake up call for all of us - a lesson delivered from the common gut. When you take people for granted, you should not be surprised to look around in your time of need to find that you have lost a big chunk of your army.

Maybe all this time, I have been transferring where none was felt, my own personal shock onto A. N. R. Robinson. If I have been correct then maybe this latest event will help us to understand the consternation that that physically and politically assaulted Prime Minister must have experienced when on the night of Friday 27 July, 1990, sometime between 10:30 and 11:00, he realised that the only response to his command, "Attack with full force!" was going to be the sound of crickets chirping.

Those of you who read the leaked US Embassy cables relating to Trinidad and Tobago, would have learned that this decision to "take under advisement", the Prime Minister's order to defend his government sans humanité!, was influenced by on-site US intelligence officers.

Winston Dookeran, in his meeting with then US Ambassador Austin on March 7, 2006 thanked the Ambassador for this "wise" intervention.

2) (U) Ambassador Austin met, on March 7, with Winston Dookeran, Political Leader of the opposition United National Congress (UNC). Dookeran was forthcoming, honest and, as the Ambassador openly told him "very likeable". Dookeran was laudatory about one particular aspect of the USG/GOTT bilateral relationship. Referring to the Jamaat-al-muslimeen failed coup attempt of 1990, Dookeran lamented the fact that the assistance provided to the GOTT at that time by the FBI's hostage negotiating team has never been properly acknowledged. When the Ambassador recalled then president Arthur N.R. Robinson's order to "attack with full force", Dookeran said that the advice of on-site US intelligence officers to the GOTT not to follow the president's order was obviously wise. SOURCE

Although I am not a raptor and generally do not support cold, calculating and premeditated violence, what happens in the heat of battle is quite another matter. If you are attacked by an aggressor and under its claws, then you cannot be blamed for reacting with similar force.

Returning to the article, these are the author's points that left me puzzled:

"Understandably, the cynics and believers should be divided into groups: the tribal supporters of the ruling and opposition parties who can be easily led around by their noses, who will see no evil, hear no evil about their party and tribe but will easily agree that the claims and actions of the other are false. This phenomenon of blind loyalty has seriously blighted the politics; it has given us a mass from which there can be drawn no critical thinking, just driven by tribal instincts."

If the author is saying that within the camps of both cynics and believers, there are two groups: the tribal supporters of the ruling and opposition parties, then that's not a problem. That would allow the possibility of cynics AND believers within the ranks of the PP supporters and cynics AND believers among the ranks of the PNM supporters. Seems healthy to me. But if the author is saying that a supporter of the ruling party is automatically an unquestioning believer and a supporter of an opposition party is an unrepentant cynic, that summation seems as binary as the thinking that has been ascribed to the blindly loyal "tribal supporters".

Has the author simply erased some of the rest of us? To name just a few of the lost "tribes" who apparently exist under the radar of political analysts, there are those of us who neither demand nor receive favours, those of us who support NO political party, those of us who may be persuaded to support a party but only AFTER country, those of us who couldn't even begin to choose an "ethnicity" if called to take a side, those of us who have half a brain that we try to use? True, we do not occupy prime time and make plenty noise but I become more convinced that it is within the ranks of these thoroughly acclimatized "tribes" that you will find the best that this nation has fashioned.

The other thoughts which I found problematic were:

"What is more, how could people, those online, the callers and others, think that a government, any government, would place itself in jeopardy simply to win public sympathy which would fizzle if the allegations turn into a hoax?..."

"What seems fair to conclude is that a Prime Minister, the CoP, the Defence Force commander, the Attorney General and the Minister of National Security and threatened ministers could not hold the population in such contempt that they believe they could so deceive. Therefore, it must be that there is substance to the alleged assassination plot."

Is the author suggesting that governments are never deceitful and don't ever tell lies, lies that are well coordinated between departments, lies that are sometimes as fantastic as they are murderous, lies that sometimes have tragic national and global consequences, lies to win public support for decisions which are injurious to that same public, and more lies to cover up the injuries? If readers have never been exposed to the fact that governments lie, Google the subject. There are too many articles and videos to mention here so I will leave it to you.

Is the author also suggesting that governments actually believe or care that there will be negative consequences when their lies are disclosed?

Is the author suggesting that governments never hold populations in contempt?

Finally, I agree fully with the author's conclusion:

"But like others, this columnist has a healthy scepticism of politicians and their parties. What is more, politicians and their parties have earned the disbelief which people have of them. Therefore, the allegation is before the Government and the security forces to be proven, and neither one of the two entities could seek to lay blame on each other for some faux pas which blocks the way forward. Nothing short of an unqualified conviction in the courts would satisfy those with doubts and there can be no long drawn-out investigation and deliberation: the police must go out and find the evidence to convince the Director of Public Prosecutions there is a basis for the laying of charges."

A government is manned by human beings, but we have to keep in mind that a government is NOT a human being and should not be allowed to have a mission of its own that is divergent from ours. As I said before, I have not yet made up my mind about whether the alleged plot or plot within a plot was a hoax. The burden of proof lies with those who made the allegations so I continue to wait. I will be among the first sceptics to add my voice to the "believers" when the evidence before me satisfies.

NOSTALGIEWe can no longer pretend that things are like they used to be. I personally mourn the loss, caused by time and distance and "progress," of the country people who I admired when I was growing up. The women who were like rocks and the men who said, "God willing." and believed it, even though many of them would not accompany their wives to church. I can still see their tough brown legs and arms, the rough, work-hardened hands and fingers that seemed huge and clumsy but whose tenderness fascinated me when wrapped around a freshly unearthed cassava or dasheen. These were the expert weavers of mamoo baskets and the wielders of poyahs, the makers of maracs and warap. They knew about gru gru bef and sapote and how to disappear from view [I kid you not] and the special baths to prepare their dogs for the hunt. Yes, a cacophony dominates the world today, but for me it cannot drown out the silence, that void left by the people and a time that will never come again.

Maybe the scales have fallen from our eyes. Despite all the distractions, it seems that as a nation we have heard the pin drop and now, we are waiting for the other shoe.

"Asked about the potential negative effects on the nation’s tourism and investment thrusts, she noted that several countries had expressed an interest in investing in Trinidad and Tobago and she should be going to Venezuela to discuss bilateral and Caribbean relations with President Hugo Chavez." SOURCE

Excellent news! Hugo Chávez Frías, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, our closest neighbour to the South, had invited our PM to visit that country since August last year. Maybe it had to be postponed because of his health problems but better late than never. I heartily applaud this decision.

Never dismiss counterpoints - they add interest and complexity to the play. This insane urge to homogenise, to flatten and blanch and dominate everything threatens diversity when the preservation of diversity, even in genetics, is of crucial importance to our survival..............................................................................................................................."Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

.............................................................................................................................."Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

Blessed art thou, Maria most high
For having given birth to our great Messiah.

The holy angel Gabriel announced to Mary
That by the power of God she would conceive a Son.

Mary answered, "Thy will be done."
"I am the servant of God who fulfills his mandate."

Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth
And she greeted her in this manner,

Blessed art thou, Maria most high
For having given birth to our great Messiah.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!.............................................................................................................................."Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

IF it turns out that the alleged assassination threat was real, here are only a few of the many questions which I would like to ask the plotters:

What exactly did you hope to achieve??Trinbagonians are fully aware that packing red [on the index finger] and not lead is the way to remove a government.

Were you hoping to send a political message?What message exactly and to which receptor? The system is a DEAF juggernaut. You kill some agents and the system self heals and proceeds without so much as a squeak. The system is an infection and all our minds are the hosts. Bullets are bullcaca.

Did you think that you were doing us a favour handing us a neatly packaged dismissal? Handouts haven't helped us so far so, no thanks, we will struggle on with this one and print our own poster sized pink slip if circumstances demand it. It will have to be OUR collective decision and hopefully not influenced by bribes, slick publicists or foreign agents.

Were you influenced by forces alien to this society?I will tell you this once and I hope I don't ever have to repeat myself. Friends will carry you but they won't bring you back. This is OUR business and whoever is trying to make our business their business and telling you that we cannot figure it out ourselves, take it from me - SELF INTEREST IS THEIR ONLY MOTIVATION.

Were you unhappy because your nefarious activities were being interrupted? Paleets, we are unhappier when they aren't, so maybe its a good thing that it was the government that caught you and not the upright majority of the people.

Were you unhappy because YOUR nefarious activities were being targeted and you felt that a blind eye was being turned to that of others?Yes, it is true, discrimination hurts wherever it manifests but we are also keeping tabs so wine to the side and let us take care of business.

Did you think we needed a revolution and you imagined yourselves as its patriotic midwives? Well, in my experience I have seen that men convinced against their wills are of the same opinion still. So don't get us stuck instead in a bloody revolving door. We'll just find ourselves back at square one and minus some more good men and women.

EXCLUSIONResearch has shown that the social exclusion, which can be brought about by various punishing circumstances in an individual's life, is often a characteristic of the personal lives of criminals. Go back, often into their childhoods and there you will find a break, a disconnecting with someone or some aspect of human society necessary for proper development. The human being withdraws and can fall through the cracks. This slippage, and perhaps the perception that the loss has gone unnoticed and is therefore without rescue and remedy, leads to feelings of anguish and rage.

We each have something to contribute. That is why we are born. I must admit that I do not unreservedly encourage the bringing of new lives into the cesspool we have made of this world but once a new life has been conceived, something tells me that it is on its way for a reason and that it must be assisted to the realisation of that purpose.

Is it not the same in the life of a society, of a nation? People should not be silenced by their equals who pretend that they hold the power over life and death, over whose voice is heard and whose is shouted down, over who can handle the truth and who cannot, over who is allowed partnership and who deserves condescension? This is OUR society.

I am thinking of the expression "to out someone's light" meaning to kill that person. There is another kind of extinguishing that happens to some of us even though our bodies continue to walk. I have seen it happening to our children. You have to look at their eyes. For some of our children the sparkle is no longer there.

The attrition that our society has endured for the longest while is taking its toll, even on the strongest among us, and right now I am hoping that this allegation of an assassination plot really turns out to be a hoax because there is an even more frightening truth than the possibility that this administration is dishonest and it is that we are shutting down, we are losing confidence, we are so disillusioned that we are going against what is most natural for Trinbagonians - that warm empathy and willingness to give a transgressor at least one more chance,"Doh study nah" with a handshake and a smile.

Isn't it strange how far some of us are from our brothers and sisters and from HOMEland, even when we are physically within its borders?

T&T: "There are hills and mountains between usAlways something to get overIf I had the way, surely you'd be closerI need you closer..."

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

"Gangs are responsible for nearly two-thirds of all murders in Trinidad and Tobago. As the Government pilots new measures to combat them, The Telegraph has been to the islands to find out the choices facing teenagers growing up in some of the toughest neighbourhoods."

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

If you never gave a thirsty person any water,Then what is the point in giving him nectar granting immortality afterwards?If you never picked up a falling person,Then what is the point in shedding tears afterwards?

I went to a gathering to learn about godAnd I listened to the saint's teachings,Whilst I was listening to the saint's teachings, I suddenly had a thought,Even though I have been given birth as a human,I have never shown any mercy/kindness,Then what is the point in being called a human?

I went to bathe in the sacred river Ganges in Haridwar Kasi,Whilst I was bathing in the sacred river Ganges I suddenly had a thought,I have washed my body but I haven't washed my soul,Then what is the point in bathing in this sacred river Ganges?

I have read all the holy texts like the Vedas and the Shashtras,Whilst reading the Shashtras I suddenly had a thought,I have never shared my knowledge with anyone,Then what is the point in being called wise/intelligent?

All your places of worship are at the feet of your respected parents,Come! Come! That is the place to achieve liberation and enlightenment,If you never did a selfless service for your father and mother,Then what is the point in going on pilgrimages?..............................................................................................................................

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nikita, for your beautiful rendition of this compelling bhajan. I am humbled. I have not done all that I can and I am not proud of everything that I have done.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

"Our laid-back approach to food production is what bothers me most. There is much talk but little action. If government diverts 10 per cent of the resources it has put in its chase for a new POS skyline into agriculture, we could increase food production to a level where it dampens inflation. If we join hands in the Caribbean, embrace our brethren in South and Central America where land space is not a problem, then food inflation would subside."

I have always known that Trinidad and Tobago is blessed with excellent conditions for year round agriculture and for the establishment of prosperous and sustainable industries based on the harvests and even on the waste from these harvests. We do not need to depend on food imports to feed our people. In fact I believe that we are fully capable of feeding ourselves. Rather than waiting to be forced back into agriculture when our golden goose of fossil fuels has finally croaked, let us turn towards it now before even more precious land is grabbed up for ecologically unsound industries and as profit making investments by persons who have no interest in the welfare of the wider community.

Even in urban areas we can follow Cuba's brilliant projects supporting community production of healthy, fresh food for its citizens. These neighbourhood gardens are called 'organoponicos" and they are increasing the quality of fresh food available to people living in cities.

"...when the USSR collapsed in 1990/91, Cuba's ability to feed itself collapsed with it. "Within a year the country had lost 80% of its trade," explains the Cuba Organic Support Group (COSG). Over 1.3m tonnes of chemical fertilisers a year were lost. Fuel for transporting produce from the fields to the towns dried up. People started to go hungry. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) estimated that calorie intake plunged from 2,600 a head in the late 1980s to between 1,000 and 1,500 by 1993.

Radical action was needed, and quickly. "Cuba had to produce twice as much food, with less than half the chemical inputs," according to the COSG. Land was switched from export crops to food production, and tractors were switched for oxen. People were encouraged to move from the city to the land and organic farming methods were introduced.

"Integrated pest management, crop rotation, composting and soil conservation were implemented," says the COSG. The country had to become expert in techniques like worm composting and biopesticides. "Worms and worm farm technology is now a Cuban export," says Dr Stephen Wilkinson, assistant director of the International Institute for the Study of Cuba.

Thus, the unique system of organoponicos, or urban organic farming, was started. "Organoponicos are really gardens," explains Wilkinson, "they use organic methods and meet local needs."

"Almost overnight," says the COSG, the ministry of agriculture established an urban gardening culture. By 1995 Havana had 25,000 huertos – allotments, farmed by families or small groups – and dozens of larger-scale organoponicos, or market gardens. The immediate crisis of hunger was over.

Now, gardens for food take up 3.4% of urban land countrywide, and 8% of land in Havana. Cuba produced 3.2m tonnes of organic food in urban farms in 2002 and, UNFAO says, food intake is back at 2,600 calories a day." SOURCE

Note:I don't know what the levels of lead pollution from vehicular traffic are like in T&T but if you are hoping to plant in urban environments, the location of the plots should be at a safe distance from roads and highways. Perhaps the EMA would be the best agency to advise.

For those of you who have an interest in starting your own organoponico on your farm or right in your own backyard or balcony, here are some links to local organisations/iniatives that can point you in the right direction:

In the book by Canadians, Alisa Smith and J. B. McKinnon, "The Hundred Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating," the authors document their experiences over one year as they maintained a diet restricted to only foods grown within one hundred miles of their residence. If we can ensure that the farmers growing our food are not presenting us with produce laced with dangerous chemical residues, I am convinced that if Trinbagonians were to try this, despite the initial inconveniences and adjustments, our health would be greatly improved.

When food has to travel great distances, there is inevitable deterioration. Trust me, the apples I've eaten from roadside stands in T&T are substantially inferior to the ones available at the source, and even at the source, time elapsed after harvesting and proximity are evident in the taste and texture. The same must apply to all the vegetables coming into T&T. If food must be processed to delay this deterioration, it is often tainted with dangerous additives, not to mention the sometimes harmful materials which go into the packaging.

PRIORITIES

I heard today that 17 million children are currently living in poverty in the USA. The number of desperate citizens is amplified when you consider that attached to those 17 million children are their impoverished, sick, unemployed and often homeless families. This fact is allowed to exist alongside the other fact that trillions of dollars have been and continue to be wasted by that government on wars, or should I say, "humanitarian interventions" in far off places. Where is the humanitarian intervention at home? Why are our immediate neighbours always expendable?

In our case, why shouldn't we love our homeland before all else? Why shouldn't we look around and ask ourselves why are more and more of our people suffering from diseases brought on by poverty, stress, pollution, unhealthy food and lack of exercise?

I once knew some children in T&T who were in their teens and had never been to the seaside. How is it that the beneficial impact of our places of natural beauty, our vistas that have not yet been cluttered and defiled by progress, are not available to some? Why is it that some people cannot come out of their homes and feel the earth under their feet in their own backyards and gardens?

Why is home ownership and/or access to land an impossible dream for many citizens. Billions of dollars are spent on wasteful government public relations campaigns while a home buyer has to find a million plus to get a concrete box.

The money was here, some of it is still here and it could have been used to give many people hope and purpose. I am not suggesting throwing handouts at people, I am dreaming rather about a system that curbs the greed of those who have unrestricted access to the wealth of this nation and who often make cruel and unjust decisions about who else is allowed to join the gang of beneficiaries.

And while we work on making home ownership a possibility for all, home rental - an industry which is predatory and usurious if left unchecked, has to be regulated, especially the management of rents and the standard of housing being offered to consumers.

Yes, one bullet withdrawn might spare the life of one body but the life of a body is good for nothing when the soul has been vanquished.

The whole world is trying to come to terms with something that perhaps we will only be able to define eons hence with the benefit of hindsight and if we are still around to do it. But the moment is a chance and I firmly believe that in this tectonic rearranging there is an opportunity to break free and to try something different, not to continue to mechanically hammer away at old problems with the same ineffectual and infected tools.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

For many it was tiresome déjà vu [all over again] and the lack of evidence helped to destroy the credibility of this latest threat to national security. After reading about it yesterday evening, a long steups was my gut reaction. I still cannot say whether I believe it or not because I do not have any evidence before me and this is what I continue to find distressing and frankly embarrassing about politics as usual in T&T.

These threats should be announced only after evidence has been gathered, persons must be charged and their identities and alleged activities shared with the public. Without that evidence and coupled with Commissioner Gibbs' studied callowness, his painstaking attempts to choose the neatest words while appearing to subliminally distance himself from the laglee, "All I can say is that we've all expressed that there is a threat there. If you choose not to believe that I guess that's your prerogative." I was left more inclined to interrogate than to commiserate.

Death threats, by the way, are occupational hazards for leaders of nations. Just like all of the people won't like you all of the time, you should expect that some of the time, some of the people will want to see you dead like a semp for your efforts or lack thereof. Ask Fidel Castro about the six hundred and something times he alleged that a certain agency attempted to hand him over to Basil.

So while I remain open to believing the claims of the government and I wait for more details to dribble out, I want to congratulate all the online readers who dispensed with pinches of salt and resorted to snorting it in the face of this latest report from Oceania. Your skepticism is wise especially with the "mentors" to the north whispering into the pliant ear of this administration. All of the quotes below apply to their own fear-mangled society but I want my countrymen to be vigilant and to look for the signs that our mimicry is escalating.

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and hence clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."-- H.L. Mencken

The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself... Almost inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable." - H. L. Mencken

"Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping, and unintelligent." --H. L. Mencken

"If you haven't recognised the following fact then I suggest you do a little research and deal with it. Government's, ruling oligarchies, dictatorships subtle and overt, throughout history time and again create their own enemies. They need to manufacture enemies to indefinitely hoodwink the real enemy, the people they govern."---Paul Joseph Watson.

Meanwhile, on the subject of evil, devious acts of treason, let us revisit the leaked US Embassy Cable of 20th October, 2006, "SUBJECT: OPPOSITION LEADER: PM HAS TERRORIST LINKS, IS ANTI-AMERICAN AND DICTATORIAL" and Wade Mark's breathless waving of carefully tailored red flags before the paranoid bull whose patronage he was seeking. The following cable records the damning allegations made to an alien presence against a sitting Prime Minister:

"¶1. (C) On October 3, the Ambassador met with Opposition United National Congress (UNC) Deputy Political Leader Senator Wade Mark, at Mark's request. Mark said his purpose was to express to the Ambassador the UNC's shock at the "sudden assault" on the United States unleashed by Prime Minister Patrick Manning, in his September 5 address before energy industry executives and members of the diplomatic corps (Ref A). Mark wished to reassure the Ambassador that a UNC administration would reestablish with the US the same friendly and cooperative relations which has characterized the 1995-2001 period when then UNC Prime Minister Basdeo Panday and Secretary of State Warren Christopher signed an extradition treaty, a mutual legal assistance treaty and an agreement on maritime law enforcement. Mark went on to say that UNC concern with Manning's "undiplomatic" outburst was heightened by the fact that Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Dr. Lenny Saith has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexico according to which a portion of the liquefied natural gas currently exported by T&T to the US would be assigned to Mexico instead. Such an action could not help but have serious national security implications for T&T, given that T&T depends for much of its food imports on the US. The Ambassador listened to Mark and acknowledged that the Prime Minister's September 5 criticism of the US had taken him by surprise, too.

¶2. (C) Mark then launched into a litany of allegations and rumors whose veracity it is impossible to gauge. He said it was the UNC's understanding that newly-appointed foreign minister Arnold Piggott (Ref B) had, while serving as High Commissioner to Canada, met with elements associated with Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. (Note: Post has no reason to believe that this is true and has not heard this rumor from any other source). He went on to say that three ships carrying rocket launchers as well as members of Hezbollah, which had left Syria in August en route to Argentina, were diverted to Venezuela's Margarita island where a Hezbollah base was to be established with the aim of targeting the US. (Note: Post has heard this claim elsewhere, although embassy Caracas would be better placed to ascertain whether it is fact or fiction).

¶3. (C) Mark also drew a connection between Prime Minister Manning, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, leader of the extremist Jamaat al Muslimeen (JAM) group, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Referring to Abu Bakr's release from prison on bail and to his court-authorized leave to travel to Venezuela, Mark said it strains credulity that such a development could have taken place without the knowledge and intervention of the powers that be. Mark said that Abu Bakr is treated like a head of state by the Chavez regime, and hypothesized that his leave to travel to Venezuela could have been intended to cement Manning's anti-American credentials in return for the JAM's assistance with voter recruitment at the next election. (For info on Abu Bakr, see Reftels D, E, and F).

¶4. (C) Making full use of the exaggerated or rhetorical style which characterizes both his public appearances and private conversations, Mark then accused Prime Minister Manning of increasingly dictatorial tendencies. He said that Manning would stop at nothing including assassination, to get elected, and that the proposed draft constitution, which Manning commissioned and which incorporates no checks on the abuse of power by an executive president, is designed to suit his own predilection for absolute control.

¶5. (C) COMMENT: Wade Mark's visit must be viewed in the context of an increasingly acrimonious political atmosphere in T&T, both between the ruling People's National Movement and the opposition forces and within the opposition forces themselves recently split down the middle through the creation of Winston Dookeran's Congress of the People (Ref C). Although many of Mark's allegations seem outlandish, some of them may not be entirely implausible. On the one hand, the fact that the GOTT is prosecuting Abu Bakr for sedition, incitement and terrorism makes it highly unlikely that any deal is in the works between him and Manning. On the other hand, Abu Bakr's leave to travel to Venezuela really does raise eyebrows. Post would appreciate any insights which embassy Caracas may have on Abu Bakr's activities in Venezuela.AUSTIN"

Paranging in the Croisee, one night with San Jose,
I met a parrandero who sang to me this way -Parang-parang, parang-parang, parang-parang. That's what he sang.
Oh Maria, oh Madre mia, Jesus Christ is born
On a winter's day, Madre mia, Happy Christmas mornParang, parang oh, parang, parang oh, parang, parang oh, parang-parang.

He sang a true story of Christ in His glory
And said He's coming back soon, if you hear parranderos croonParang-parang, parang-parang, parang-parang. That's what he sang
Oh Maria, oh Madre mia, Jesus Christ is born
On a Christmas day, Madre mia, sing a happy songParang, parang oh, parang, parang oh, parang, parang oh, parang-parang.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................

A Note From The Gull

Pure joy set to music! Thank you, Singing Francine.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

When we leave your homeYou left with the four walls aloneEven the stale cheese and poneThe TV, fridge, couch and the phone'Cause when we leave your homeYou left with the four walls aloneEven the stale cheese and poneThe TV, fridge, couch and the phone.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!..............................................................................................................................

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, RemBunction! We use macafouchette to refer to leftover food. When we say we are having macafouchette we usually mean that the meal is comprised of leftovers. Maybe our patois word came from the two French words macérer to crush and fourchette for fork. It is always interesting to try to figure out where some our words came from. Today I learned that the "chadon" in "chadon beni" is actually derived from "chardon", the French word for "thistle" and the "beni" come from the French word "benit" meaning blessed.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

KISS ME FOR CHRISTMAS
Performed by Kelwyn Hutcheon
Composed by Pat Castagne

I've wanted to tell you just how much I care
But I just didn't know what to say
I've wanted to kiss you but just didn't dare
So I've waited for Christmas to say...

Kiss me for Christmas and say that you care
Just hold me and tell me you're mine
Church bells are ringing, the world is in love
Hearts filled with kindness, there's joy up above
Music and laughter and you in my arms
With midnight a moment away
Just hold me tight as the clock strikes midnight
Kiss me for Christmas and then kiss me for Christmas again.

Music and laughter and you in my arms
With midnight a moment away
Just hold me tight as the clock strikes midnight
Kiss me for Christmas and then darling, kiss me for Christmas again.
Kiss me again
Kiss me again....again...again.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Pat Castagne and Kelwyn Hutcheon for a glorious Trinbagonian Christmas classic. Whenever I hear this song, I close my eyes and I imagine myself dancing across a floor alive with the sparkling reflections of the lights above and I am in the embrace of the one that I love... Talking about that, go now and find the one that you love and kiss him or her for November 21. Remember, it's not the things you do at Christmas time that make the difference, but the Christmas things you do all year through.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Yes, one Christmas Eve, casually I was walking down the street
One Christmas Eve, casually I was walking down the street
I was attracted by the voice of a little boy
As he hold his mother's hands, telling her his plans
What you think the conversation could be?

He said, "Listen, Mama, I want you to tell Santa Claus
To bring a trumpet and a concertina for me
I am lonely 'cause there's no children near by me
Ma, you don't know how happy your son would be."

She looked at him very sad as the water filled her eyes
To realise that she hadn't the answer for his cries
She was so worried, yes, so worried and so confused
As they strolled along the street, no shoes on his feet
While they walked he continued to repeat as he plead...

"Listen, Mama, I want you to tell Santa Claus
To bring a trumpet and a concertina for me
I am lonely 'cause there's no children near by me
Ma, you don't know how happy your son would be."

I approached her and promised to give a helping hand
She said to me, "Mister Nap, you can do the best you can."
I gave her money and asked her, "Miss, where you live?"
That night at twelve o' clock I brought a lovely box
The next day she was so merry and gay when she heard...

"Listen, Mama, I want you to thank Santa Claus
For the concertina and the trumpet he brought for me
I'm so happy, I have no time to take some tea
Oh, what a nice godfather he is to me!"

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Nap Hepburn. Yes, I will admit that there are tears. Make at least one stranger happy this Christmas. Ten would be even better!

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

[Neighbour!] Get up is Christmas morning
[Neighbour!] Is punch a creme we drinking
[Neighbour!] Get up, get up from your bed
[Neighbour!] Slice up some cake and sweet bread
With something salt, something salt, something salt to pass in we mouth
[Something salt, something salt, something salt to pass in mih mouth]

Into my house them limers walked
I gave them salted garlic pork
With rum, scotch and punch a creme, sorrel, ginger beer
I gave them salt biscuits to eat with salt nuts and good salt meat
I even gave them a salt prune yet they kept singing that tune.

Hear Roy....

[Neighbour!] Get up is Christmas morning
[Neighbour!] Is punch a creme we drinking
[Neighbour!] Get up, get up from your bed
[Neighbour!] Slice up some cake and sweet bread
With something salt, something salt, something salt to pass in we mouth
[Something salt, something salt, something salt to pass in mih mouth]

I had to call on my neighbours to help me cool them limers
Rupert, Gomez, Carlos, Samuel, ------------ and Maxwell
Mih neighbours cook up salt pamie with saltfish, pastelle, Cheewee
And yet them limers still find fault and begging for something salt.

Hear Lance....

[Neighbour!] Wake up is Christmas morning
[Neighbour!] Is punch a creme we drinking
[Neighbour!] Get up, get up from your bed
[Neighbour!] We don't like cake and sweet bread
Without something salt, something salt, something to pass in we mouth
[Something salt, something salt, something salt to pass in mih mouth]
We want something salt, something salt, something salt to pass in we mouth

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Chalkdust!! This song puts a big smile on my face always.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Laughing children tug at Mister SantaTeddy bears and dollies saying, "Mama"The fragrance of black fruitcake and red wineWe’ll toast to a special friend of mine,His name is Jesus.

Chorus:Come little children,'round my Christmas treeWe’ll have a very merry timeWe’ll sing, dance and playOn the break of New Year’s DayWe’ll listen to the church bells chime.

Christmas presents come with season’s greetingsThere will be such peaceful, loving feelingsSuch feelings should not come just once a yearTo have, to cherish and to share.

There’s a light that shines on every flowerAnd it shines every minute, every hourAnd always guides me on my wayThis light was born on Christmas DayHis name is Jesus.

Chorus:Come little children,'round my Christmas treeWe’ll have a very merry timeWe’ll sing, dance and playOn the break of New Year’s DayWe’ll listen to the church bells chimeWe’ll listen to the church bells chimeWe’ll listen to the church bells chimeWe’ll listen to the church bells chime.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance..............................................................................................................................

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Lennox Gray, for one of the most unique Christmas songs coming out of Trinidad and Tobago. It captures the mystery, the excitement, the joy and most of all the love and reverence.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creationBlessed be my beautiful peopleBlessed be the day of our awakeningBlessed is my countryBlessed are her patient hills.

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home.

I met a man who lives in Port of Spain and he was heading for
San Fernando and some homemade pumpkin pie
From San Fernando folks are traveling up to Maracas Bay, I'm sure
To a lovely moonlight picnic, man that traffic is terrific.

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you really want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home.

I met a man who lives in Port of Spain and he was heading for
San Fernando and some homemade pumpkin pie
From San Fernando folks are traveling up to Maracas Bay for sure
To a lovely moonlight picnic, oh, the traffic is terrific.

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Mighty Sparrow.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Greed can make you so unhappy
Greed can make your life uneasy...yeah
You want and want and want and want
The more you get the more you want
When you came you brought nothing
When you go you will take nothing
I don't jealous people kankalang
Don't know where they get their kankalang
Don't know if they sell their bangalang to get their kankalang.

Not me, not me, not me, not me!

Sell my soul to gain the world
To wind up in a six foot hole
All I want is plenty happiness
Health and strength and lengthy happiness
Bedtime is my greatest luxury
I don't want my conscience bother me

Not me, not me, oh no no, not me, not me!

Greed is just a kind of sickness...oh yeah, yeah
Greed is just a kind of weakness
You want and want and want and want
You never satisfied
Want and want and want and want
That's the reason why
I don't jealous people kankalang
Don't know where they get their kankalang
Don't know if they sell their bangalang to get their kankalang.

Not me, not me, not, me, not me!

To sell my soul to gain the world
To wind up in a six foot hole
All I want is plenty happiness
Health and strength and lengthy happiness
Bedtime is my greatest luxury
I don't want my conscience bother me.

Not me, not me, not me, not me, oh no no no!

Greed is somewhat like a cancer
Greed - a wicked little gangster
Grab and grab and grab and grab
The more you get the more you grab
The more you grab the more you want
Like your conscience back to front
I don't jealous people kankalang
Don't know where they get their kankalang
Don't know if they sell their bangalang to get their kankalang.

Not me, not me, not, me, not me!

Sell my soul to gain the world
To wind up in a six foot hole
All I want is plenty happiness
Health and strength and lengthy happiness
Bedtime is my greatest luxury
I don't want my conscience bother me.

Not me, not me, not me, not me!

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!..............................................................................................................................

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Mighty Shadow. Right on target as usual about the important issues.

As I stare into the abyss of this world my hand searches feverishly for a flush lever, and I understand more clearly the role that religion plays in keeping the polite majority in line. We are asked to believe that some higher authority will take care of everything. Christianity, as we practice it, has been a HUGE disappointment to me but maybe that's exactly how it was intended to turn out by those who have organised it and pushed it while continuing to go to bed with Caesar. More and more I wish that the Christ had been more specific when he advised us to, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. From where I am standing, Caesar owns EVERYTHING in this town and we continue to buy, and to buy into his corrupt system.

Like Shadow, and probably thanks to my naive Christian upbringing, I have never craved wealth but I have seen what happens when the greed of a few robs many ordinary men and women and children of what is theirs. I do believe that the resources of the land and people should be protected and fairly distributed and this cannot happen when daylight robbery [yes, the kind of criminal activity that does not take place in "hot spots" or within curfew hours] is the order of the day.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

OH, HOW I WISH I WERE A CHILD AGAIN
By Kelwyn HutcheonAlbum: Christmas Classics

Oh, how I wish I were a child again
Red poinsettias keep reminding me
Christmas time is just around the bend
Soon the feeling will be heavenly
The kids anticipate vacation time
All Christmas chores must wait a while
If they don't send their letters, bells won't chime
Oh how I wish I were a child.

It's still some days away, when will it ever come?
New curtains up, and down today - linoleum
Cobweb complete, now play. Mum notices, oh gosh!
Insists that I must stay to help whitewash.

Oh, how I wish I were a child again
Red poinsettias keep reminding me
Christmas time is just around the bend
Soon the feeling will be heavenly
The kids anticipate vacation time
All Christmas chores must wait a while
If they don't send their letters, bells won't chime
Oh, how I wish I were a child.

Beneath the pitch oil tin the fire's burning bright
The tree, the creche, the babe within, Christmas Eve night
They send me off to sleep, certain I'm out of sight
I stay awake and peep 'til morning light.

Oh, how I wish I were a child again
Red poinsettias keep reminding me
Christmas time is just around the bend
Soon the feeling will be heavenly
The kids anticipate vacation time
All Christmas chores must wait a while
If they don't send their letters, bells won't chime
Oh, how I wish I were a child,
If they don't send their letters, bells won't chime
Oh, how I wish I were a child,
If they don't send their letters, bells won't chime
Oh, how I wish I were a child!

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!..............................................................................................................................

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Kelwyn Hutcheon, for what I consider to be one of the most beautiful Christmas songs IN THE WORLD. Although I do not share the wish to be a child again, saudade always gets me, especially when expressed so beautifully in a song.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

FEEDBACK

Lord, Please walk beside me through this day. Clear the heavy air with the lightness of Your Presence. Guide my hands and steady my heart that I may give comfort when I cannot give hope, that I may give relief when I do not have a cure, and that I may radiate Your healing peace when the limits of science, time, and the human body overwhelm us all.Amen